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Henry Foxall

Henry Foxall (1758-1823)[1] was a iron supplier for Thomas Jefferson. Foxall was born in Monmouthshire, England on May 24, 1758. He learned the iron foundry trade in England and Ireland before coming to Philadelphia in 1797. Upon arriving there he set up or purchased the Eagle Iron Works in partnership with Robert Morris, Jr. This partnership was dissolved in 1800 when Foxall moved to Georgetown and set up the Columbia Foundry, a business he owned until his retirement in 1815. Additionally, Foxall was instrumental in setting up a foundry in Richmond in 1809, for which he was paid $5,000 by the state of Virginia. This foundry was principally set up to make cannons for the government, an operation which Foxall also engaged in, in Georgetown.

Foxall supplied Jefferson with three main items: cast iron window sash, used in the all-weather passage and the Mulberry Row stable, cast iron fireplace backs, and cast iron stoves. Also, Foxall might have made some of the stew-holes in the kitchen. Jefferson did order 24 semi-circular cast iron sash from Foxall on November 12, 1806. Fourteen of these are in the all-weather passage, and an additional two are located in the stable at the end of Mulberry Row. The location of the remaining eight are unknown. Possible locations include other regions of the stable that no longer exist or possibly at Poplar Forest as construction there was going on at the time the sash was ordered. The fireplace inserts Jefferson received from Foxall were possibly ordered in person as no written order exists, however, a payment for these items, and an order for additional side pieces for these inserts do exist. The stoves Foxall proved for Jefferson are after a design that Jefferson provided according to the ideas of an Swedish nobleman, the Earl of Buchan. The stoves were very efficient providing more heat for the wood burned than a conventional fireplace or even a Ben Franklin stove.

For all of the items provided to Jefferson, Foxall received a total of $348.101/2, according to entries in the Memorandum Book. However, this only takes into account payment for one stove purchased by Jefferson. Jefferson apparently wanted more than one stove, although no account of further orders exist after he received the first one from Foxall. It is not certain whether any further stoves were ordered or if the information concerning them is just lost.

Foxall also provided cast iron for the Capitol in Washington. Latrobe is somewhat critical of Foxall's work in several letters, yet concludes that there is no other person he would have do the work. He does say that his cannons are much better crafted than his peacetime work. Foxall returned to England for a short while after retiring in 1815, and married a second time, his first wife died several years before, and then returned to Georgetown. In 1823, he again visited England where he died on December 11, 1823 at the age of 66.